It Can Take A Funeral
by The Illusionist's Wings04
Summary: A montage of memories that may be hard for Max to face up to. R&R


** I'll admit, I'm really proud of this song fic. It's my first, but I think it turned out amazingly! I think the end was a little rushed, I LOVE the beginning. I really hope you like it! The video, **_**AMV- Life is Beautiful, **_**which is by Subarashi6 on youtube, was my inspiration. If you want to hear the song, go there because that's my fav version! Enjoy, and please review.**

_You can't quit until you try  
>You can't live until you die<br>You can't learn to tell the truth  
>Until you learn to lie<em>

"You're coming back, right?" My small hands circled the bars of the steel cage. The cool metal soothed the raw scrapes from the last test. Then, as my fear grew, I squeezed the bars tighter, and I flinched as a left over piece of glass from a broken vial cut deeper into my skin. In years of living at the School, I had learned one thing: fighting back from the experiments only caused pain. But what else could I do? Let them hurt me, let them hurt my only family?

The man who called himself Jeb gave me a small smile. His hands still held the roll of gauze tape that was he used to bind my hands. "Of course, Maximum," he told me soothingly. "Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you, and I'll never hurt you. This is a promise, Max. Never."

He broke his promise.

_You can't breathe until you choke  
>You gotta laugh when you're the joke<br>There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive_

The crude wooden casket was slowly lowered into the hard winter ground. We were on the run; who would give criminals a funeral? In the casket was a nine year old boy, only just starting his life. Only just finding his family. Only just opening his eyes wide to the world. And now just being released from life.

As Fang said his words over the dark hole in the ground, I could feel the ocean in my eyes. Fang finished, his expression blank, but something was there. I could tell. He gazed expectantly at me; I slowly put my hand out and let a white lily float down Alice's rabbit hole. Would Ari meet the mad hatter? I opened my mouth as if to voice this question, but instead a loud wheeze came out. It had hit my like the waves of tsunami: Raw, pure emotion floated in the depths of Fang's eyes. The rock was filled with topaz, the stone of… well, hope.

Hope was something I didn't have, and neither did Ari.

My knees buckled and I felt hands slow the fall. Someone's arms encased me, like a shield to keep out the truth that I was alone. Yet these arms, they proved I _wasn't _alone.

The ocean overflowed.

_Just open your eyes  
>Just open your eyes<br>And see that life is beautiful.  
>Will you swear on your life,<br>That no one will cry at my funeral?_

"You see that?" I asked Angel quietly. She nodded slowly, her wide blue eyes following the hawk's flight with perfect precision. I already knew Angel would be a natural; we all are. "Can you do that?"

Angel stared at the hawk with wonder for an extra moment before beaming at me. "Yeah," she chirped.

"All right." She knew the drill. Angel walked up to the edge of cliff and glanced nervously down into rocky chasm. "Remember," I said soothingly. "Fang's waiting at the bottom. He'll catch you if anything happens." The comment just seemed to make Angel more nervous, and I sighed.

"Don't worry, Angel," I told her. "It's amazing. The wind is rushing through you, and the adrenaline is pumping. Every nerve is blazing, and all there is joy. And you're falling and falling and falling and suddenly your wings catch the wind and you feel so _alive_…" I trailed off in thought, my own thoughts on my first flight. Jeb had been standing below in case I fell. _Of course_, I thought bitterly, _my ankle was shackled and I was in a huge gymnasium._

When I finally came to, Angel was staring curiously at me. I smiled weakly and grabbed Angel into a hug. "You'll do great," I murmured, my face buried in her blond curls. We stood there for a few seconds, and then Angel pulled back, setting her shoulders straight. Shaking out her feathery appendages, Angel took a few experimental flaps before backing up a few feet from the edge. Eyes glowing with determination, she sprinted off and pumped her wings.

Angel dropped a few feet, and at first I thought she was going to fall like a stone. But against the odds, she rose back up and started flapping across the sky. I gasped. My little sister was soaring across the sky gracefully, her face full of pride and excitement. The sky was shining with a deep blue that set off Angel's figure as she danced across the sky. The little girl had finally been given a part in Swan Lake.

_I know some things that you don't  
>I've done things that you won't<br>There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home_

"What's it like out there, Max?"

I glanced at Ella, who was staring at the gauze wrapping my shoulder. I touched the wound absentmindedly, only to wince. Ella jumped up, her expression filled with alarm, but I just waved her down. She sat back in the kitchen chair timidly, still looking like a loaded spring. "What are you talking out there, Ella?"

Ella glared down at the wood table, her fingers weaving together. "My mom won't let me do anything fun. She's always telling me to be careful and she'll yell at me if I don't answer my cell. That's all I seem to do: follow orders. But you," she slowed down here, "you've dealt with so much. You're free bird." Then she gave a wry smile. "That's what my mom said."

I was almost angry. Didn't she have any idea how lucky she was? To have a caring family, to live without running? Yeah, I was free, but I was tethered down by those f*cking scientists who thought that they could control my mind, my body. They believed I was property that would be sold to the highest bidder; they thought I was an animal with no rights. And _that_ was considered free around here?

Then I calmed down after a moment, realizing that Ella really had no idea what exactly I had gone through. I hadn't told them my story for safety reasons. But Ella deserved more than a cover story; the School was going on about next generation crap. Ella _was _in the next generation.

"It's a hard world out there," I told Ella truthfully. She nodded like she understood, her head bobbing up and down with childish ease. Her eyes were sharp with attentiveness, her back straight in the hard chair. "How we live, well, we don't know if we'll live to the next day. I've been lied to, I've been hurt, I've been laughed at, I've been shot at," here I gestured to the shoulder, "God, there's almost nothing I haven't lived through!" Except a safe home, a known schedule, a warm hug, a family… And I was about to spurt out all that nonsense until Ella trusting gaze made me realize how much of an idiot I was. "Ella, there isn't just evil. I haven't just felt hard metal, but I've been hugged. And there's compassion, and love, and faith, and joy, and family…" My throat closed up; I put my forehead on the edge of the cold table, trying to swallow my tears.

Ella was quiet for a moment, apparently digesting all the information. Then, I felt a warm arm wrap around my shoulders reassuringly. I raised my head slowly, meeting a pair of chocolate brown eyes. "You really miss them," Ella said quietly.

I shot up out of the chair, rubbing my eyes fiercely. Ella still sat looking dejected. "Who?" I said loudly. "I'm alone. There's no one else like me! I already told you guys that. Why do you keep poking fun at me?"

"I'm not making fun of you," Ella told me furiously, glaring again at the table. "Look, I just feel really bad, all right? We all know you have somewhere to be, and because of my mistake you got shot. I'm such an idiot! It must have really hurt, and I don't want to be the cause of your problems. You seem really nice, and I don't want to hurt you!" Her fists slammed into the table, angry tears falling down her cheeks. Ella's jaw was tight, and her face was turning a bright red. I froze, staring at a fuming Ella. It was hard for my mind to comprehend: Someone outside the flock actually _cared _about what happened to me. Ella was still sobbing when I finally came over and awkwardly patted her shoulder. Even Ella started laughing at my lame attempt to comfort her.

"Ella," I said softly, "you're not a bad person, I promise. You're wonderful and kind. I don't regret steeping in when those boys were bothering you. And, yes, the shoulder did hurt, so I wouldn't recommend standing in front of a bullet for the fun of it. But Ella, I've dealt with worse, really, I have. My shoulder will be fine in few days."

She nodded soundlessly, still sniffling into her collar. When she looked up, she saw my smile. "I don't regret this, Ella. I didn't expect this, but I _want _to be here. If I hadn't got hurt, I wouldn't have met you and Valencia."

_A trail of blood led me home._

_I was waiting for my hearse  
>What came next was so much worse<br>It took a funeral to make me feel alive_

"Hey Max, where's Iggy?"

I swiveled around to look at Nudge. Her face was smudged with ash, her eyes still bright with yet another demolition of another School. Her wild curls were sticking up in all directions, but her grin had dropped to a worried frown at my expression. "I thought he was with you?" I gasped. The run up the hill had been exhausting; we were going to take flight until snipers' started taking some shots at us. I could have gotten out of range in time in turbo speed, but the others would lag behind. I always had to stay with the flock.

"No. I thought he was with Gazzy." Gazzy, whose hair was standing on end like he had put his finger in a light socket, shrugged. No, this couldn't be happening…

"When was the last time anyone saw Iggy?" I stammered out.

"He said he was going to find Nudge for some bypass code," Angel said promptly. "When I heard the code in his mind, I assumed he had found Nudge."

"We have to go back." I started sprinting down the hill, but Fang's hand snagged me. "Max," he whispered frantically in my ear. "There's thirty seconds left. We go down, we all die."

"But we can't just leave him there!" I yelled. "Don't you have a way to stop it or something? There's got to be a plan, I always have a plan…" But Fang gazed forlornly at me. No, no, NO!

"He's on his own." But that can't be true, I'll save him. But the sick realization hit me; I couldn't leave the kids alone, not now, not ever.

I wrung my hands, staring at the building. "Come on," I murmured, "Come on, Ig. Don't give up now."

_Just open your eyes  
>Just open your eyes<br>And see that life is beautiful.  
>Will you swear on your life,<br>That no one will cry at my funeral?_

"Max."

_Alive...  
>Just open your eyes<br>Just open your eyes  
>And see that life is beautiful.<br>Will you swear on your life,  
>That no one will cry at my funeral?<em>

"Max?"

_Just open your eyes  
>Just open your eyes<br>And see that life is beautiful.  
>Will you swear on your life,<br>That no one will cry at my funeral?_

"Max!"

Huh? I whipped around fast, only to collide with Fang's legs. My balance was knocked off, and I almost fell off the edge of the cliff until Fang's calloused grabbed me and pulled me up. In different circumstances, I would've blushed, but not right now. Not now.

Fang had taken a seat next to me. His legs dangled with mine in midair. "They said they weren't sure what was going to happen. But he's a fighter, Max. Ig isn't one to give in."

I nodded silently. That was true.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Fang breathed. He was still grasping my hand.

_Just open your eyes  
>Just open your eyes<br>And see that life is beautiful.  
>Will you swear on your life,<br>_

Beautiful? What the hell did Fang mean? Nothing was beautiful, just bleak and gray. But I raised my head just humor Fang, and was stuck breathless.

The horizon was a blazing golden flame. Colors of so many different shades were mixed in, colors you'd think you would never see in a sunset: blues, greens, pinks, purples. All sparks inn a darkening sky. The dusty red rock that formed the canyon we sat on glimmered in the sunlight's dancing rays like faerie dust.

"Night's coming soon," Fang told me quietly; my hand automatically tightened at the thought of blackness. I met his raven eyes with my own and for a moment he was completely open to the world. Even a small child could see his odd joy, his faith, and even the touch that what he was saying was the hard truth. "The sun will set. But the moon will rise and take it's place. And I swear I'll protect you with my life, Max. You won't be alone to meet the blackness."

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" I told him. "Life, that is."

_That no one will cry at my funeral?_

**I kinda dropped the censoring at the end. Sorry for that.**


End file.
